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SINGAPORE – Talk show host and former MP-nominee Viswa Sadasivan resigned as a member of the National University of Singapore (NUS) Alumni Advisory Board.
This comes after two women reported sexual harassment to him.
In an email to his students on Saturday night (February 20), the university’s Office of Student Relations said it would also discontinue all projects with him and his communications consulting firm, Strategic Moves.
The NUS statement said this was in light of the allegations made by comedian Sharul Channa and doctoral researcher Kiran Kandade against Viswa.
NUS said, “The University does not condone any behavior or action that is disrespectful and disparaging of people, regardless of ethnicity, gender, religion or age.”
NUS added that the incident between Mr. Viswa and Ms. Sharul took place during the online interview series, Awkward Questions.
It is a collaboration between Strategic Moves and the National University of Singapore Society (NUSS), a graduate club and registered society that is a separate and independent entity from the university.
Before interviewing her online about her profession and work on women’s issues, Viswa, 61, allegedly asked her why she was wearing a rose brooch.
To which Ms. Sharul, 34, replied that she was only wearing it “to distract attention from the pattern on my blouse.”
She claimed that the presenter later said, “It would be more upsetting if you used just that rose.
The incident was first raised by Ms. Sharul in a Facebook post on February 4.
Kiran, 60, told ST on Saturday night that he had received sexually inappropriate text messages from Mr. Viswa about five years ago while discussing employment matters.
When contacted, Mr. Viswa said that he had discussed the termination of business contracts with NUS President Tan Eng Chye, and both parties agreed that it was best to “disconnect given the controversy.”
On Saturday afternoon, he sent an email to Prof. Tan about his decision to resign as a member of the Alumni Advisory Board after serving for about 15 years.
Said Mr. Viswa: “I did not want my alma mater, the president and the senior members of management, as well as the members of the Alumni Advisory Board to suffer collateral damage. The dispute I am in has nothing to do with it. directly with NUS.
“I want to be sensitive to the fact that NUS has done its best to handle cases of sexual misconduct on campus. It has not been an easy stretch for the university.
Ms. Sharul applauded NUS for taking a stand.
She told ST: “When I first took to social media to talk about the incident, my intention was not for him to lose his position, but to report that this behavior was wrong.”
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